The BBWAA has officially revealed the ballot for potential induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2026 and the Atlanta Braves will have a trio of former players on the ballot this time around — though
I’d imagine that all eyes will once again be on the one who has been on this ballot for nine times now instead of the two newcomers.
Andruw Jones, Nick Markakis and Matt Kemp are the three former Braves players on the ballot this year. This’ll be Markakis and Kemp’s first time on the ballot and while both of those players have had fine careers, it’s tough to see them breaking through that famous threshold of 75 percent needed for induction into the hallowed grounds at Cooperstown. This group of newcomers is pretty underwhelming and I’d be stunned if any of them got in on the first ballot.
As far as Andruw goes, he’s still got a significant amount of ground to make up before hitting that threshold. 66.2 percent of the BBWAA voters included him in on the ballot, which was a jump from 61.6 percent the year before and 58.1 percent before that as well. He could see a bump solely because this year’s crop of first-timers is relatively weak and he could also benefit from the sense of urgency associated with his candidacy since he doesn’t have too much time left on the ballot. As long as he avoids a really bad plateau moment either here or next year, I’d imagine that he’ll have a shot at getting in on next year’s ballot. I’d be stunned if he got in this year but we’ll see what happens.
So, what do y’all think? Will Andruw Jones continue to go in the right direction on his quest to Cooperstown? Will any of the first-timers have a chance of getting in? Who do you think is getting in, in general? Let us know!
